Benjani foots soccer bill

, Benjani Mwaruwari had to come in and assist with his personal funds to pay players allowances and other fees.
Mwaruwari confirmed this week: “I had to assist here and there but I did it out of my own accord as a way of contributing to the cause of my country”.
It has also been confirmed that ZIFA failed to pay for airfares for even a single player playing outside the country and all players had to come by their own means with the majority arriving late for camp. Mwaruwari also had to help in the area of travel expenses.
He declined to disclose the finer details about the monies he paid players and, sources say, the technical staff after what has been established to be a terrible state of affairs in the country hoping to “co-host” the World Cup in less than three years. Investigations have revealed that the mother body, ZIFA failed to obtain any funds from the government because the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s coffers are dry and highly-placed sources told this paper that there were “ridiculous” suggestions by some government officials for the soccer body to cancel the Morocco tie, a move which would have attracted serious censure from FIFA.
Warriors head coach, Charles Mhlauri declined to comment on the matter, as well as reports that he has not received his salary from ZIFA for several months.
Meanwhile, senior players say they will soon submit a petition to ZIFA “demanding that the real issues affecting the Warriors, of funding and adequate preparations be revealed instead of laying the whole blame on the coach”. The players indicated that they want Mhlauri to stay amidst a lot of debate characterized by calls for Mhlauri to be fired and replaced by another local coach, a situation a senior player described as “a mere application of lipstick to a frog”. – Itai Dzamara